Day 1:
"I'm kinda surprised the old man let us go like this." Naruto commented after they were out of sight of the village.
"Well, considering that your still a civilian until you graduate, he can't really deny you leave. Especially since I'm technically family." Arashi looked at his younger self, "Now, I'm gonna be up front with you: this training will basically be hell, physically and mentally. Ninety percent of the time you're probably gonna feel like your bones and muscles are ready to tear themselves apart and passing out'll seem like a godsend."
"Sounds like fun." Naruto deadpanned, "But like they say, no pain no gain."
"Bingo. First off is for you to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Arashi held up a hand when Naruto started to react, "I know we can't do regular clones, but this version is different. Watch."
Naruto watched as his older self summoned an exact double, "Ok, so what's the difference?"
"Unlike regular ones, we shadow clones can act on our own." The other Arashi replied, making Naruto go bug-eyed.
"And for an added bonus, whatever they learn comes back to me." The original said before dispelling the clone.
"Why the hell don't they teach that in the academy?"
"Well, it take a lot more chakra then some can handle. Most jounin can only summon up about around 3-4 at best. Hell, Sarutobi could only do a dozen before running low."
"Ok, and what about us?"
"Dunno what our limit is, but the highest I've gone is around eleven thousand."
"E-ELEVEN THOUSAND!" Naruto yelped.
"Yeah, but that was to deal with a gangster who's bounty I was after. Guy had a 2700-man army on his payroll, so I decided to scare the shit out of them. Being a Jinchuuriki for over half a century helped some. Learned some people really do piss themselves when outnumbered almost 4-1. Anyway, these are the seals for it. Get some practice in and you should have it all down to one." He showed them to Naruto and looked around, "It'll probably take us a couple of days to reach our next destination so that should be plenty of time for you to get acquainted with it."
"Where are we heading to?"
Arashi responded with their trademark foxy grin, "We're going tomb robbing."
"Oh, is tha-say what?"
"You'll see."
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Day 3:
"Ok, I'll bite: where the hell are we?" Naruto said, staring at what appeared to be an old abandoned shrine in the middle of nowhere. Murmurs of agreement could be heard by the two dozen clones scattered around them.
Arashi didn't respond. Instead, he simply held up his hand, revealing the seal on his wrist before it, and his right side were suddenly covered in smoke. It quickly blew away to reveal him holding a vicious looking eight-foot-long, double-headed scythe. Seals for reinforcement and durability could be seen etched up and down the metal shaft, which was eerily shaped like a human spine. Each end had a three foot blade that extended a couple of inches past the handle, the back forming two hooked claws. Both sides of the crescent were razor-sharp, the edge running nonstop along the top and claws to form one continuous cutting blade.
"Whoa.." Naruto whispered, his eyes wandering from one end of the weapon to the other, "Where'd you get THAT?"
"Say hello to Merciless." Arashi gave it an expert twirl before resealing it, "Before getting stuck in prison, I learned about a gang boss who lived around the start of the second shinobi war. Man was said to be as cold-blooded as they come, commiting almost every crime you could think of; murder, extortion, rape...at least until he died at the hands of a rival gang. It was said his weapon of choice was a two-headed scythe. This one to be exact."
"Wait..you actually went and robbed a grave!"
"Like I said, we're going tomb robbing. But considering how much of a bastard he was, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. Thankfully a bit of asking around netted me the location of where he was buried. Asshole thought pretty highly of himself and demanded he be buried like royalty, complete with a shrine in his honor." He pointed to the statue of a large and haughty-looking man standing in the center of the structure, "His casket is in a room right under that statue."
Naruto watched as his older self stepped inside and went through a set of seals
"Fuuton: Shredding Gale!" A gust of wind immediately fired from his hands, ripping apart the statue, the floor, and carving up a small tunnel into the ground.
"Holy shit! Where'd you learn that move!" The younger blonde stared at the resulting destruction.
"I've whipped up a jutsu or two to work with our wind affinity."
"An affinity?"
"Yeah. Means what elemental jutsus you'll be more in tune with." Arashi hopped down into the opening, his voice echoing slightly, mingled with the sounds of him rummaging around, "They normally wait till your a chunin before checking, but some jounin instructors like to get it started early. I don't have any on me, but they use some chakra-sensitive paper that'll react depending on what element you're better attuned to: burns if you're fire, gets soaked if it's water, crumbles to dust with earth, crumples up from lightning, and splits if it's wind. The first time I tried it, mine split right down the middle." The sound of wood breaking filled the air, "Ah, here we go."
Naruto watched as his older self leaped out of the hole, carrying another scythe along with a bag that clinked a bit when he put it down. "No sense letting perfectly good money go to waste." Arashi pulled out a sizeable roll of bills from the bag, causing Naruto's eyes widen even more.
"That..that's a lotta cash.."
"It'll keep us going for a couple of months, especially with what we're going to need." Arashi put the second scythe and money in a storage scroll and tossed it to Naruto, "If I remember right, there should be a trading post about thirty miles from here. We can pick up supplies there and get you some more ninja appropriate attire. Finally get rid of that damn jumpsuit, too."
"About time. Can't wait to see the looks on those jackasses when we get back" Naruto's grin was almost feral.
"Don't worry, when this year is over, they won't know what hit them." Arashi's grin was equally as intimidating.
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*cackles* Finally...this one's done! Hopefully this is a sign that i'll be able to get more of these chapters out of the way...
